Wolfgang Bergmann (publicist)

Wolfgang Bergmann (born November 2, 1962 in Wiesbaden ) is a German publicist . He is currently ARTE coordinator at ZDF and managing director of ARTE Germany.

Life

Bergmann studied ethnology , journalism and German at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz from 1982 to 1988 . From 1986 he worked as a freelancer for ZDF's "Schauspiel" editorial team, from 1989 press officer and theater editor at 3sat and finally from 1993 head of public relations . Since 1997 he has been head of the “Theater Program Group” and sub-coordinator “Theater and Music” for ARTE .

The ZDFtheaterkanal was founded in 1999 and initially became its deputy director. Bergmann has been its director since 2001 while retaining his functions for 3sat and ARTE. From November 1, 2007 to September 2010, he was also the founding director of the Academy for Performing Arts Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg . Since December 1, 2009, he has played a key role in the conversion and expansion of the ZDFtheaterkanal to ZDFkultur as coordinator of the ZDF culture channel. Bergmann has been in charge of ARTE coordination at ZDF since October 2011 and is the managing director of ARTE Germany. He also chairs the Musica group at ARTE.

Bergmann is the author and editor of various publications and developed the concept of “theater films” such as Bertolt Brecht's “ Baal ” and Frank Wedekind's “ Lulu ” directed by Uwe Janson or Friedrich Schiller's “ Kabale und Liebe ” by Leander Haußmann . He is the initiator of numerous theatrical and literary focuses on 3sat and Arte, including those about Brecht, Schiller, Shakespeare, Sturm and Drang as well as various theme days, from Pop around the Clock (3sat) to Elvis (Arte). At the end of the mid-1990s, he established the collaboration between 3sat and the Berlin Theatertreffen, which has resulted in around 100 recordings and TV adaptations of stage plays for television. Together with Jo Schmidt he founded the German-language TV theater magazine FOYER and was the initiator of TV formats such as “Theaterlandschaften”, “ Arte Lounge ” and “ zdf.kulturpalast ”. In addition, since 2013 the ten-part documentary series "Geliebte Feinde - die Deutschen und die Franzosen" and "Ach Europa", the concert series "Berlin live" and the world's first TV documentary series with an integrated 360 ° virtual reality experience as an app " Polar Sea "over the Northwest Passage as a seismograph of climate change. In 2017, he launched the new weekly reporting line RE: for ARTE, with people and stories that move Europe.

Bergmann is a member of the German Academy of Performing Arts and ZDF representative on the board of directors of the German Stage Association as well as a member of the board of the IMZ (International Music Center).

In 2008 Wolfgang Bergmann was appointed professor.

Wolfgang Bergmann has a daughter and three sons.

Editing

• Peter von Becker : The century of the theater. Du Mont, Cologne 2002.
• Thomas Irmer, Matthias Schmidt: The stage republic. Theater in the GDR . Alexander, Berlin 2003.
• The staged look. ZDFtheaterkanal. BelAir edition 2009.
• e-book "Geliebte Feinde" - The Germans and the French 2014.

Awards

In 2006 Bergmann was awarded the German Critics' Association prize in the "Television" category. 2008: Film art award for television at the 56th International Film Festival in Mannheim 2008: Prix Italia for KA-Cirque du Soleil from Las Vegas on two channels 2016: Grimme Online award for Polar Sea 360 °

Web links

• Matthias Hannemann: Wolfgang Bergmann Theater on the screen. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (online) January 21, 2008.